The panicked bosses buy spyware, track employees working at home

“We are watching over you. We are recording what you type on the keyboard. We are looking at the websites you just visited. And every 10 minutes, we will take screenshots of your computer. ”

An email is sent from the boss to employees of Axos Financial Inc.

“We are watching over you. We are recording what you type on the keyboard. We are looking at the websites you just visited. And every 10 minutes, we take screenshots of your computer.

So work on it, or you’ll have to face the consequences. “

“We have seen many individuals take advantage of when the company allows working from home to rest instead of working , ” said CEO Gregory Garrabrants of Axos Bank, Axos Financial’s parent company . If daily duties are not completed, employees will be subject to disciplinary action, the most severe of which is dismissal. ”

According to a Bloomberg report, Axos Financial is one of several companies that are taking special measures to help their employees stay productive and get work done, while working from home due to the Covid epidemic. -19. And a special measure is to install tracking software onto employees’ personal computers.

This is probably an effective way for businesses to monitor employees working remotely. Digital surveillance has been applied in many different forms, but never before have employees been asked to install a monitoring software on their PCs. This seems to violate personal privacy.

A lot of employees have complained about being overly monitored. But many of them are just starting to work from home, and can’t resist the temptation to take a nap, surf Facebook, watch YouTube, or be busy with children.

The number of such surveillance software subscriptions is increasing rapidly. “Companies are competing,” said CEO Brad Miller, of monitoring software company InterGuard . They are trying to allow their employees to work from home, but at the same time want to improve productivity and efficiency. ”

Axos Bank representative Gregory Frost said: “The increased monitoring and supervision of home-based employees that we are working on will ensure that the workforce continues to work and stay productive. high”.

However, Mr. Frost refused to answer Bloomberg’s question about whether CEO Gregory Garrabrants was similarly supervised while working from home.

The panicked boss looking to buy spyware

In the context of the blockade of major European cities, many companies have to let their employees work from home because of epidemics, software companies such as InterGuard, Time Doctor, Teramind, VeriClock, innerActiv, ActivTrak and Hubstaff is seeing a great opportunity.

ActivTrak’s monitoring software orders have tripled in just the past few weeks. Teramind also reported similar growth. Founder of Jim Mazotas innerActiv said the ordering phone was constantly ringing.

InterGuard CEO Brad Miller compared tracking software like security cameras in banks: “It’s not because of a lack of trust, but a caution . “ InterGuard tracking software can also prevent employees from stealing customer information or committing fraud.

“My advice is to use it as a motivation, as a way to prove to the manager that you have the ability to work autonomously,” Mr. Miller said.

However, there are many workers who express anger and oppose being closely monitored by the company. One comment said: “The important thing is not tracking employees. It is important that if you hire them, you should trust them. If you don’t trust them, there’s no reason for them to be part of the company. ”

Some other opinions that should be evaluated through work results, instead of how the process works. Maybe they just watched the movie, listened to music, took care of the kids but still finished their work well, then it is not worthy of condemnation.

Of course, both businesses and workers have their suffering. But remember, in the current situation of the Covid-19 epidemic, millions of people are unemployed, thousands of businesses are at risk of bankruptcy.

If you still have a job to do, and still have a boss who pays you, then that would be very lucky. Maybe your boss is also facing many difficulties, so work hard whether in the office or at home, and together through this difficult time.